#naofumi x l'arc

[shieldherostuffs]

Soulmates

In this world, only one part of the Soulbond has the name(s) of their partner(s)

L’Arc and Therese aren’t soulmates, but they’re deeply in love. Like, since they were kids. They’re now engaged, since no almost no one meets their soulmate anyway. 

Naofumi’s soulmates are the two, and just needs someone to lean on and trust. But his soulmates are already in love and engaged, and their wedding is coming closer. Naofumi is heartbroken, but want the two to be happy, even being L’Arc’s best man when asked. 

A couple of years later, Naofumi is still struggling a bit with life, both after what happened, and having to see Therese and L’Arc a lot. 

One day, the two asks Naofumi is he would like to be the godfather if Therese gets pregnant. Naofumi breaks down crying, but keeps a smile on his face, saying he’d be happy to. 

After Naofumi gets into a traffic accident, L’Arc and Therese come to visit while he’s still out cold. L’Arc notices something on Naofumi’s wrist while holding his hand and looks closer, finding hos soulmark under the bandages. L’Arc, because of curiosity, carefully tugs the bandages down a bit, and finds two names. 

L’Arc Berg and Therese Alexandrite. 

L’Arc is shocked and call Therese to come look. 

When Naofumi finally wakes up, they ask him why he didn’t tell them, and Naofumi answers that he just wanted them to be happy, and they were without him. 

Naofumi end up avoiding L’Arc and Therese after that, until the two come to visit him out of nowhere one day. 

[rosesinbloom7love]

RaruFumi Prompt

Gods & Goddesses Au + Hades & Persephone Au 

(A little prompt i’ve been sitting on for like 2 or 3 years now and finally decided to post it for ya’ll. inspired by the myth of hades and persephone, but with my own little twists added to make the story stand out. Buckle up ya’ll this gonna be a long one. hope you enjoy!)

🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺

Long ago in the early days of humanity, the earth was ruled by darkness and chaos. Humans had to fight for survival and lived in constant fear of being attacked by demons and other monsters.

Many humans prayed to the gods for any kind of help to vanquish these dark forces, but their prayers were left unheard as the gods simply ignored the pitiful mortal in favor watching from their realm above the clouds.

This caused all of humankind to stop worshiping the gods as they felt the gods had forsaken them to their cruel fates. This, of course, enraged the gods, who retaliated on the humans by unleashing several calamities on them for daring to go against their creators.

Mankind spent the next few centuries faced with a variety of catastropes such as floods, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, famines, and even plagues.

However, when humanity was nearly brought to the brink of extinction, a new faction of gods started to emerge and gradually began amassing a following of worshippers.

At the helm of this new group of gods and goddesses is The God of the Skys. As the leader of the new gods, the Sky God led the charge against the old gods in order to take their place as rulers of the earth.

It was a long and grueling battle, but in the end the new gods triumphed over the old ones and the few remaining old gods were banished to the lowest depths of the Underworld.

The new gods then set off to fix the world.

They waged war against the demon clan led by the evil demon lord and eventually drove them to the darkest corners of the earth.

The gods then went about restoring the earth to its former glory with an abundance of lush greenery and animals roaming around. 

Certain gods then went on to teach humans a better means of survival such as learning to farm and crafting better weapons for hunting.

Grateful for the gods improvements of their way of life, humans worshiped these new gods more than they ever did with the old gods.

Temples and statues of the old gods were torn down or destroyed and replaced with ones of the new gods. Yearly festivals were held in honor of the gods and people would leave offerings of fruits, meats and precious metals and jewels, while praying.

The most worshiped god of the pantheon was undoubtedly, The God of the Skies. After defeating the old god as well as the demon clan, the sky god received the title of King of the Gods by both mortals and gods alike.

Soon after acquiring the title, the Sky God decided to take a wife and chose the four most powerful goddesses to be his spouses.

These four goddesses were the gods of the four elements and each had control over a specific element.

The first goddess had dominion over the element of Fire. Her flames were bestowed upon humanity as a gift to warm them during the cold nights. She was an alluring beauty, who fury could ignite a raging wildfire that could destroy everything in its path.

The second goddess had dominion over the element of Wind. Her winds were used to carry people across great distances. A soft beauty, whose presence could calm anyone. However, she was said to be quite capricious and her moods would change as often as her winds do.

The third goddess had dominion over the element of Water. Her rains healed the world below and breathed life into it. An elegant goddess known for being as tranquil as a flowing river, but could also be as fearsome as the crashing waves of the ocean.

The fourth and final goddess had dominion over the element of Earth. Known as the Mother of Life, this goddess had control over any and all plant life. She is the head of the elemental goddesses and one of the most powerful gods second only to her husband, The God of the Skies.

She is also the most beloved of the Sky God’s wives. She had a very gentle and nurturing disposition and cared deeply for those she held dear.

These four goddesses were often worshiped alongside the God of the Skies, but were also worshiped separately as powerful gods in their own right.

Upon becoming the Sky God’s wives, they were bestowed the title of, The Four Queens of Nature. 

In the years following, each goddess fell pregnant with the offspring of the Sky God and later each bore a child. A son.

The Fire Goddess bore a son with hair as yellow as wheat and eyes as red as a raging fire. He was given the name Motoyasu by the goddess.

The Wind Goddess bore a son with hair as brown as the desert sands and eyes that shimmered like gold. He was given the name Itsuki by the goddess.

The Water Goddess bore a son with hair as dark as the night sky and eyes as blue as the deep ocean. He was given the name Ren by the goddess.

Finally, the Earth Goddess bore a son with hair as black as the wings of a raven and eyes green as sparkling emeralds. He was given the name Naofumi by the goddess.

Both the mortal and god realms celebrated the birth of these for new gods and bestowed them with the title of, The Four Princes of The Seasons, as each son had received an aspect of their mothers’s powers as well as their father’s.

Motoyasu became the God of Summer, bringing forth hot, sunny days where humans spent most of their time outside in the lengthened daylight.

Itsuki became the God of Autumn, bringing forth cool, windy days where humans spent their time gathering their harvest from months prior.

Ren became the God of Winter, bringing forth cold, snowy days where humans spent their time inside admiring the beautiful white snow and awaiting the return of warmer days.

Lastly, Naofumi became the God of Spring, bringing forth warm, rainy days where humans spent their time planting fruits and vegetables while admiring the beauty of the flower and other plants.

Out of the four gods, Naofumi was undoubtedly the most worshiped by humans. As the son of the Goddess of Earth, Naofumi inherited his mother's ability to control all plant life and humans would pray to him for a good harvest that year.

Naofumi also inherited his mother’s beauty and nurturing nature, having a love for both plants, animals and humans.

Humans and gods alike marveled at the Spring God’s beauty and when he finally came of age, many gods petitioned for his hand in marriage, but were all turned away by his mother, the Goddess of Earth.

Naofumi’s mother cared for him deeply and was very protective of him. She knew that all those gods were only after Naofumi for his beauty and she wasn’t going to allow her son to be treated as some common bedwarmer!

So, Naofumi often spent his days with his mother in their private meadow, occasionally being visited by his brothers or aunts.

However, despite Naofumi being a widely beloved god, there was one person that hated him. A god that absolutely despised the Spring God with every ounce of their immortal being.

The Goddess of Beauty and Wealth, Myne.

Myne was a goddess famed for her stunning beauty as well as her vain and haughty personality. Myne had countless gods vining for her attention and showering her with gifts to try and win her hand in marriage.

However, the only god Myne thought was worthy of her was the king of the gods himself, The God of the Skies.

Myne believes she should have been the wife of the Sky God and queen of the gods as she was by far, the most beautiful of all the goddesses. Yet the Sky God chose the four elemental goddesses as his wives and didn’t even consider her.

This enraged the Goddess of Beauty, who grew to despise the four goddesses with a particular hatred for the Goddess of Earth as she was the most loved by the Sky God.

Her distaste for the Earth Goddess only grew upon the birth of her son, Naofumi.

Suddenly, Myne’s numerous suitors that constantly fought for her hand, started ditching her in favor of chasing after the Naofumi. 

Now, that was already enough for the Beauty Goddess to loath the Spring God, but what truly tipped Myne over the edge was when humans and even some gods began to whisper of how Naofumi was so beautiful that even the Goddess of Beauty himself could not compare!

This caused the goddess to finally snap and she began to devise a plan to get rid of the Spring God and his mother.

One day, Myne descends down to the human realm in disguise and travels to the darkness parts of the world, where all demons reside. 

There she reveals herself as a goddess and demands to meet with the demon lord. Once taken to the demonic leader, Myne offers the demon a deal.

She explained her hatred for the Goddess of Earth and the God of Spring and her wish to be rid of them, but she needs the demon lord’s help. Myne then explains her plan.

Every year towards the end of winter, the Earth Goddess and Spring God descend down from the heavens to begin their yearly trek through the mortal realm to melt all the snow and ice of winter and make way for spring.

Myne’s plan is to have the mother and son pair be ambushed by the demons during their journey. Myne will give the demons a special poison that temporarily turns gods mortal thus rendering them powerless.

All the demons need to do is get some of the poison on the two gods leaving them completely powerless and giving the demons the perfect opportunity to kill the two.

When the demon lord asks what exactly he gets out of this deal, Myne suggests that the demon lord kidnaps the Spring God and makes him his bride stating that having such a powerful god as a spouse would yield strong heirs.

Myne truly doesn’t care as long as both Naofumi and his mother are out of her sight. After thinking it over, the demon lord agrees and Myne leaves happily awaiting news of the two gods deaths.

Fast forward a few months and it’s the end of winter, Naofumi and his mother descend down to earth and begin their trek through the human realm.

However, their travels are quickly interrupted when the two gods are suddenly attacked by demons. 

At first, the mother and son duo easily fended off the demons, but things quickly took a turn for the worse when one of the demons suddenly threw a strange powder on them.

Naofumi immediately felt something was off as his legs started to give out on him and he felt significantly weaker than before. Naofumi looked over to his mother to she was in the same state as him.

However, before Naofumi could do anything to help, his mother yelled at him to run. Naofumi wanted to argue, but the look on his mother’s face told him now wasn’t the time. 

So, he did as his mother ordered and ran.

As Naofumi ran through the snowy forest, he could hear a few of the demons chasing after him. Naofumi ran as fast as his weakened and tired legs could take him, until he tripped on a loose tree root and fell into the denser part of the forest below.

Naofumi slowly picks himself up and continues on running until he can no longer hear the demons chasing after him. By this point, Naofumi is completely exhausted and is fighting to stay awake, his eyesight going in and out of focus.

However, through his blurred vision, Naofumi notices the figure of a cloaked man in the distance. The man seemed to be saying to him, but Naofumi couldn’t hear what he was saying.

The last thing Naofumi saw before blacking out was the image of the cloaked man rushing towards him. 

When Naofumi awakes hours later, he was no longer in the snowy forest. Instead, Naofumi found himself laying on top of an enormous bed with soft black silk sheets.

Naofumi was also shocked to find that the white gods robes he had been wearing had been replaced with a long, black tunic that reached just past his knees.

Naofumi scanned his current surroundings and noticed he was in someone else’s bedroom. The room itself was dim with black painted on every wall, which made it hard for Naofumi to see as he was used to brightly, lit spaces.

Luckily, the room was illuminated by giant, glowing crystals that were attached to the ceiling that lit up the room allowing Naofumi to see.

Just then, the door to the room opened and the cloaked figure from before entered.

Naofumi readied himself for a fight, but the cloaked man quickly disarmed him by stating his intentions not to hurt Naofumi.

The cloaked man then took off his black cloak to reveal a handsome man with dark, crimson red hair and eyes. He was wearing long, black robes that reached his ankles and was held up by a single loose strap over his right shoulder.

 The robes did nothing to hide the man’s well-toned, muscular body. Strong, tan arms and chest were on full display.

Naofumi forced himself not to stare at the man and asked who the man was. the man introduces himself as L’arc, The God of Death and Ruler of the Underworld.

This shocks Naofumi. He’s heard a few things about the Death God from passing gods and mortals, most of which was negative, but he never pictured the god to be so handsome and kind, at least seemingly.

Naofumi explains who he is and everything that has happened to him. L’arc is shocked by this information and explains there’s only one kind of poison that works on gods.

After L’arc explained what the powder was and what it does, Naofumi was left horrified and outraged. 

Mortals can’t enter the realm of gods and since Naofumi was now a mortal, at least temporarily, he cannot return and inform his father what had happened.

To make matters worse, Naofumi knew that if he tried to return to the surface, he’d inevitably get caught by those demons again. Naofumi wanted to go find his mother, but in his current state, he was as good as dead.

Naofumi asked L’arc how long the effect of the poison lasts, but the Death God just shrugged and said he wasn’t sure. It could last anywhere from a few days to a few months, maybe even a year, it all depends on how powerful the god is.

L’arc then offers to send out some high level spirits to search for his mother and in the mean time the Spring God could stay down in the underworld until his powers return.

Naofumi is hesitant at first, but seeing no other option agrees.

For the next few months, Naofumi spent his days in the underworld waiting for his powers to return.

Naofumi spent most of his time with L’arc, who he found to be surprisingly good company. The god was quite charming and funny, very different from the rumors Naofumi has heard about him.

Over the course of their time together, the two gods slowly began to fall for one another. It started with simple lingering looks and touches, before eventually devolving into the two spending night after night in the other’s embrace.

Sadly, their time together had to come to an end. Naofumi’s powers eventually recover and he had to return to the surface.

This, of course, saddened the two gods, but they knew Naofumi couldn’t stay in the Underworld forever as he had duties to uphold. However, before he left, L’arc handed the Spring God six pomegranate seeds as a sort of gift.

Naofumi then left the Underworld.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Upon making it back to the surface, Naofumi immediately set out in search of his mother.

While, traversing the still cold and barren land, Naofumi is spotted by another god, who immediately called out to the Spring god.

The god was Therese, The Goddess of Magic and Jewels.

The goddess was both relieved and surprised to see the Spring God.

Apparently, after naofumi’s mother had told him to run, she tried to fend off the remaining demons. Despite being in a weakened state, the goddess still retained a bit of her god-like strength as Naofumi had been the one to inhale most of the poison after jumping in front of his mother to try and protect her. Sadly, it didn’t last long.

Luckily, some local snow spirits happened to be nearby and after immediately recognizing the Earth Goddess, stepped in to drive off the demons.

The snow spirits then took the weakened goddess to their home in a secret cave, where the demons would not find them. There the snow spirits look after the Earth Goddess until the poison wears off.

In the meantime, the snow spirits enlisted the help of other winter spirits to look for Naofumi. However, when they couldn’t, they returned to inform the goddess.

When the Earth Goddess’s powers finally returned a few days later, she tore off in a panic frantically searching for her missing son. When she couldn’t find him anywhere in the mortal realm, she fell into absolute despair.

The Goddess then took refuge in one of her and Naofumi’s main temples, where she still currently resides.

Eventually, word of situation in the mortal realm as well as Naofumi’s disappearance reached the heavenly realm of the Gods. In response, the God of the Skies sent out several gods to search for the missing Spring God. He also sent a few gods to try and persuade the Earth Goddess to leave her temple as without her or Naofumi to bring forth Spring, the harsh winter will continue to rage on. With every passing day it is becoming more and more dire in the mortal realm.

However, none of the gods could find any sign of where the Spring God may be, nor, could they convince the Earth Goddess to leave her temple. The Sky God was close to giving up, until a wind spirit suddenly came forwards.

The Wind spirit explains that one day while flying through the air, they notice two figures below. One had messy, black hair and was wearing a green robe. The other had crimson hair and was wearing a long black robe and cloak.

The man in the black cloak was carrying the other, who seemed to be unconscious, in his arms. The cloaked man then used some kind of magic to crack open the earth to reveal black portal. The man then stepped into the portal and disappeared along with the young man.

Anger began to fill the Sky God. There was only one being among them that matched the cloaked man’s description.

The God of Death.

‘The God of Death has kidnapped the God of Spring...’, The sentence was whispered quietly amongst the gods, before being quickly shushed, but it was too late.

The God of the Sky had heard and flew into a fury. He demanded the Death God to be dragged before him and punished. This, however, was not ab easy task.

You see, it is extremely difficult to enter or leave the Underworld without someone to guide you, otherwise you’re likely to be trapped there for the rest of eternity.

The only people that can move freely between the Underworld and the Mortal Realm is the God of Death Himself and any god he grants permission to.

Currently, the only gods that are allowed to enter and exit the Underworld whenever they please are the Goddess of Fate, Knowledge and Guider of Souls: Glass, the Goddess of Hunting, Travel and Messengers: Kizuna and the Goddess of Magic and Jewels: Therese.

Glass rarely leaves the Underworld as she spent most of her time guiding souls to the proper resting place. Kizuna spends a lot of time with Glass in the Underworld and is even considered a pseudo-guider of the dead. They may not even know what’s going on and reaching them would take a long time.

Luckily, Therese spends a vast majority of her days in the Mortal or Heaven Realm, so she’s easily reached.

The God of the Sky orders Therese to go to the Underworld and bring back the God of Death. Not wanting to anger the King of Gods any further, Therese agrees. That was about two days ago.

After Therese had finished explaining, Naofumi was left shocked and horrified. He couldn’t let the man who saved him be punished for something his didn’t do.

Naofumi knows that refusing an order for the King of the Gods could get both Therese and L’arc in trouble, so tells Therese to complete her task and bring L’arc to the Heaven Realm. Naofumi explained that he’ll be them both there to clear everything up.

First he needed to see his mother.

------------------------------------------------------------

L’arc was busy going over the reports that Glass had given him.

He missed Naofumi. As pathetic as it sounds, he missed having the raven haired god around. He knows it’s stupid considering he only knew the Spring God for a few months at best, but he can’t help it!

In that short amount of time, L’arc had fallen head over heels in love for the beautiful Spring God. Everything from his lovely emerald eyes to his snarky yet charming personality completely entranced the Death God.

While L’arc was lost in his own daydream, his office door suddenly swung open revealing his close friend Therese.

Before L’arc could even ask what brought the goddess to the underworld today, Therese tells L’arc that that he needs to go with her to the Heaven Realm immediately as ordered by the God of the Sky.

This immediately made L’arc worry as the Sky almost never calls upon the Death God unless it is something extremely urgent.

Knowing they probably don’t have time to explain everything, L’arc grabbed his cloak and set off to the Heaven Realm with Therese close behind him.

As soon as L’arc and Therese arrived in the Realm of Gods, L’arc quickly noticed the dirty looks he was being given by the other gods as they whisper quietly to themselves.

L’arc was then bought before the King of the Gods. The Sky God glared intensely at L’arc, before asking the Death God in a low, deep tone if he knew why he was summoned.

Of course, L’arc answered no, which only seemed to enrage the Sky God more.

That is when L’arc is told he was being accused of kidnapping the God of Spring. L’arc, of course, denied this claim, but the Sky God countered by saying there was an eye witness that saw him carrying an unconscious Naofumi, before disappearing.

Just as L’arc was about to explain, who should arrive, but the Spring God himself.

Naofumi steps forward to defend L’arc and clear this misunderstanding. Naofumi explained everything from him and his mother being attacked by demons and poisoned, to him being chased by said demons and backing out, to L’arc rescuing him and allowing him to stay in the Underworld until he was recovered.

After the God of Spring finished explaining, the Sky God was left speechless. Once the god regained his composure, he thanked the Death God for saving his son. For his actions, the Sky God offered L’arc a reward of any one thing his desired most.

When L’arc asked if he could truly ask for anything, the Sky God nodded in agreement.

L’arc then said something that shocked every god watching him.

“I humbly ask for the God of Spring’s hand in marriage.”, The room fell silent as every god present stared in shock, before erupting into a mass chaos of shouts and murmurs.

“Shameless!”

“Has he gone mad!?”

“Arrogant fool!”

“Disgusting lecher!”

“How dare-!”

Despite the insults hurled at him, L’arc didn’t seemed phased in the slightest. Instead, the death god turned and walked towards Naofumi, until he was standing right in front of the Spring God.

L’arc then took Naofumi’s hands into his own and then bent down on one knee.

“Lord Naofumi of Spring, I know I am not worthy of you, but from the moment I laid eyes on you I knew you were the one for me. I know we’ve only known each other for a short period of time, but I can’t image a life without you by my side. So...Would you consider marrying me?”

Naofumi was left speechless. Over the centuries, He has had many gods and goddesses proclaim their love for him, but, none have been so sincere and genuine as L’arc. It made Naofumi’s cheeks warm and flowers bloom on his head.

Naofumi would have said yes right then and there, had his mother not intervened.

The Goddess of Earth was wholly against the two’s union, stating that if Naofumi were to marry L’arc he’d be forced to spend the rest of eternity in the Underworld with the Death God.

The Earth Goddess simply couldn’t handle the thought of never seeing her son again, when she just got him back after nearly losing him already.

The Sky God understood his wife’s fears and reluctance to give up their son, but as King of the Gods, he must uphold his promises.

So, the Sky God offered L’arc a deal. 

He’ll allow the Death God to marry Naofumi, but he’ll only be allowed to spend roughly half the year in the Underworld. From the beginning of Autumn to the end of Winter, the Spring God shall reside in the Underworld. While, from the beginning of Spring to the end of Summer, he shall reside in the Mortal Realm with his mother.

The Sky God thought this was a fair compromise and nether L’arc not Naofumi had any issue with the conditions. After a few moments and a bit of pleading from the Spring God, the Goddess of Earth reluctantly agreed.

L’arc was overjoyed and a month later, he and Naofumi held their wedding.

Instead of his normal short-sleeve, knee-length, spring green tunic-like robe, Naofumi was dressed in elegant, ankle-length, robes made of the best materials in the Underworld. The robes had long, open sleeves and were a black onyx color with shimmering, specks of sliver scattered all over the fabric and gold aligning the hems.

Atop his head, replacing the circlet of flowers and vines, was a regal crown made of black obsidian with sparkling quartz gems adorning it.

The wedding was a lavish affair and by the end of it, there wasn’t a god or mortal that didn’t know that Naofumi was now L’arc’s and the Spring God could not be happier about it.

Sometime after, a few gods and spirits were ordered to locate the demons that had attacked Naofumi and his mother, after all they still didn’t know how those demon got their filthy hands on such a dangerous poison. Those disgusting monsters also needed to be punished for daring to cause harm to one of the Sky God’s wives and sons.

Once the demons were found and captured, it didn’t take long for them to confess to everything. From being approached by the goddess Myne, to her deal with the demon king of killing the Earth Goddess and kidnapping the Spring God to be the demon king’s mate.

Of course, the Sky God was seething at the information and had the goddess dragged before him. 

Myne attempted to deny any involvement in the attack and even tried to shift the blame all on the demons, but the Sky God wouldn’t hear it.

So as punishment for treason, Myne was stripped of goddess status and was cursed to take the form of an old and ugly crone, before being cast out of the Heaven Realm never allowed to return again.

Naofumi was delighted upon hearing the news of the former Goddess of Beauty and Wealth’s banishment. He never really liked her anyway, so the idea of never seeing the bitchy goddess ever again, made the Spring God jump with joy.

Of course, Naofumi was no longer just the Spring God.

Now, he was the God of Spring and King of the Dead, along with his beloved husband.

And so ends the tale of the God of Death & the God of Spring.

[eli-elien]

7 larc x Naofumi

7) To shut them up...

They sit across from each other, feet both dangling from the balcony, looking upon the intricate brick roads and dotted buildings of L’arc’s people. Everything is quiet except for the sound of bugs and the wilderness surrounding the kingdom, the only light being the warm orange of windows and the moon.

L’arc swirls his glass, wine, for the advisor told him off about doing paperwork drunk again; but its always such a pleasure to have these late night talks with Naofumi.

Maybe it was the drink or perhaps the mood, but he takes delight in the way moonlight shines on the ravenhead’s hair, how the stars reflected in those emerald eyes.

“What are you staring at?” Naofumi looks him in the eyes, curiously.

“The moon’s quite bright tonight, but so are your eyes.” Something playful tugging at L’arc’s lips.

Naofumi blinks from that, “Really? Been told they were dull,” he chuckles, “like a villain’s.”

L’arc frowns slightly at that, the way Naofumi looks away from his view, trying to shrink away.

“Whoever made up that narrative is an idiot. I think emeralds, given enough time and effort, would shine brighter than any diamond. You should know that better than anyone, right jeweler?”

Naofumi’s face reddens from the way L’arc’s brow raised and the smirk he gave, god that smirk was something to be wiped off by a slap to the face. Naofumi laughs again slightly, nodding.

“I mean given your skills, your actions, I’d say you’re the perfect hero.” 

Naofumi purses his lips, breath quickening for just a second after turning back and seeing those ruby eyes. Those ruby eyes that almost took his life that day during the wave.

“And all the rest of those jerks can go fuck right off if they know what’s good for them.”

His face heats up more, feeling the hand that sets down the empty wine glass firmly on his. The foot dangling a feet from Naofumi’s own, touching the them.

Naofumi takes a breath, “I think you’ve drunk enough, I mean I don’t need all this praise and-” He’s taken, back against a column of stone with ever reaching ivy, another’s body heat melding to his own. L’arc’s hand still planted on his, he pulls his lips away from Naofumi’s, which are still parted after the touch.

“No I’m not drunk, and you do deserve this, so shut up and take it kiddo.”

[small-spark-of-light]

Cursed Images: Shield Hero Edition pt 12!!

reposting cause its not showing up in the proper tags :(

the context for the last image: POV You Are Filo

[moontheoretist]

(Screenshots are from anime: Kyou kara Maou!)

If only modern anime had the same approach to pairings as the old ones, some of those anime would be so much better. I have no idea why isekai became synonymous with female harem, but sometimes those harems are so out of the blue there, just for the sake of being there, that you get the feeling that they serve no other purpose than to pander to young men, while the story suffers, because some male character has more chemistry with the protagonist but will never be allowed to be seen as proper possible love interest for no reason.

People who know me will probably know what I will say now. Yes, Tate no Yuusha is one of those stories. That story is so much better when the protagonist either doesn't have any love interest, or they're from a different world than the one Naofumi was summoned to, as the huge part of Tate no Yuusha story is the fight between worlds for survival that creates a perfect simulation of Romeo & Juliet trope. Especially if you look at L'Arc the disaster bi who couldn't even fulfil the one and only objective he was sent to Raphtalia's world for: killing Naofumi.

Naofumi's harem is so out there, that it could as well just not exist. It seriously works thematically better as a father with a bunch of kids trope rather than harem, especially now in season 3 when Naofumi literally has a gaggle of children in his village that he basically raises.

Raphtalia then fulfills the typical trope of a daughter that idolized her father so much that she wanted to marry him. Her infatuation didn't truly disappear when she grew up, mostly due to the fact that she did grow up so quickly as a demihuman that her feelings didn't have time to fade. Most little girls at some point grow out of idolizing their dad, but Raphtalia as a demihuman didn't have the same chance. And I'm not saying it to dig at Naofumi x Raphtalia shippers. I don't condemn any ship and never will. I'm just stating how I see the story and what I feel would work better for this particular setting than forced harem.

Second on my list of possible suitors for Naofumi, when we assume that he wants any suitors at all or is not aromantic (as aro protagonist is also something that I'd want to see more often) is Therese. Hell, it'd be great to see a canon polyamorous triad in an isekai setting tbh.

Another good example is Isekai Cheat Magician, where one of the protagonists - Rin Azuma has more chemistry with Myura than with the second protagonist that she supposedly has a crush on. And ok, sure, she was in love with him for years, so maybe it's not fair to take it away, but at the same time the romance seems unlikely as Taichi doesn't seem to harbor the same feelings and treats Rin more as if she was his sister than a possible girlfriend. Even if I created a poly couple here, it'd always feel to me as if Taichi was a third wheel.

More obvious example is SAO, where love between Kirito and Eugeo is expressed in symbols as well as Kirito's heartbreak at the end of the Alicization Arc, but doesn't strike the audience hard enough to admit that Kirito is truly bisexual and that he loved both Asuna and Eugeo. It's there if you look at it closely, but people still deny it and call me names when I bring up that both Asuna and Kirito are bisexual and that both loved a same-sex character that ultimately died later on. I feel that the story hits harder when you say it was about queer love, especially in Alicization, because then it'd mean that there was huge romance drama going on (Kirito > Eugeo > Alice > Kirito), where all protagonists' love is unrequited. It's the most tragic love triangle.

I also mentioned a manga before that I feel would benefit from it too. Hero in that story is just such a worrywart in regard to the protag.

I'm seriously starved for some good modern isekai with homo or bi male protagonist. I'm getting some w|w recently, but I feel like m|m will never come, as if w|w were easier to get than actual m|m here.

I'm not complaining. I just have this feeling that isekai is avoiding true m|m and instead is only providing us w|w, which tbh we were starved for and want more obviously, but give us some m|m too if you please.

[curestardust]

Dust Watched: The Rising of the Shield Hero Season 2

Genres: Isekai, Fantasy // 13 episodes // S01 (x)

Zzzzzzz.....

✧  story  ✧

The first season of "Shield Hero" pissed me off to an insane degree and this one almost put me to sleep multiple times.

I actually was interested in this season. The last one ended with the most interesting characters showing up, some stakes, whatever. But then the 1st episode doesn't even mention that. Naofumi is back in his village with some of his party members, doing nothing, preparing for the next wave.

Despite this season being 13 episodes long, they managed to force 2 arcs in here, both of which could've been a 1 cour by themselves with some padding. The first one is the Spirit Tortoise Arc. It's some legendary creature and that's as much as I remember. It woke up for some unknown reason, is on a rampage, the other 3 heroes besides Naofumi decide to peace out immediately because they know the outcome, which they decide to not tell him because???

Anyway they fight it, it's quite boring. There's a sprinkle of interesting lore in one episode I guess. Here we meet Kyo, an unhinged idiot who came from the other world as L'Arc and gang. He also holds a Vassal weapon. Anyway, after a really shoddy ending to the Spirit Tortoise Arc which lasted like 4 episodes, Naofumi and gang decide to follow this dude because they want to take revenge for a character they've known for about 2 days.

Second Arc plays out in the other world which frankly looks much more interesting than the cookie cutter "European Medieval Fantasy Land" we've seen a million times. I actually read some posts on the forum and apparently they cut out and reorganised a lot from the original Light Novel making it somehow... worse? An incredible feat considering how low the bar was.

The only thing saving this arc is the new characters, otherwise it's incredibly rushed and disjointed and soooooo booooringgggggg.

✧  characters  ✧

The worst and best part of the season. Kyo, the main villain, is the MOST stereotypical villain. He just laughs. Evilly. Oh and there's another dude who has the exact same personality.

Middle ground is Ost, who really could've used some more conflict with her character and definitely more time so we could get more attached to her.

Best is the heroes of the Other World. Kizuna is fun and so are the other Vassal Weapon holders (not Kyo) even though they really don't get to do much. More important is the way Naofumi can bounce off of these characters.

Filo was done dirty and at first I thought Raphtalia had some highlights but hearing how much better the source material treated her, I changed my mind.

EDIT: I completely forgot that Rishia was even in this anime despite her having the most screen time after Naofumi and I think that by itself explains everything you need to know about her. She had one cool scene.

✧  art  ✧

Abysmal. The art was one of the only positive things in Season 1. This looks like literally every generic isekai out on the market, sometimes even worse. You could say they were saving for the "final big battle" and while it looked better, it also was just 2 characters standing in one place then a building blowing up.

✧  sound ✧

OP/ED are bangers. The VA's were obviously struggling with the script, especially Kyo's, the poor dude. The OST is really weird because by itself it's good... but it doesn't fit with the scenes? I don't know what that was about.

✧  overview ✧

I know *some* of the quality drop is due to COVID. But the rest? Just bad. Unsalvageable. Boring. If the source material for this was so bad that they had to butcher it, just make this into an OVA or short movie or something.

My Rating: 2/10

[viridiave]

Slight spoilers for the Shield Hero manga but

ok but like think about it tho- L'Arc and Myne are both well-endowed redhead royals who Naofumi takes an immediate liking to and they both eventually betray him BUT UNLIKE MYNE WHO FUCKED HIM OVER L'Arc genuinely cared for Naofumi and was a genuine, immediate friend who was only forced to kill him under the false pretense that he NEEDED to kill the Shield and other heroes to save his homeworld and going over the anime and manga again I'm pretty convinced Naofumi had his bi awakening when he hung out with L'Arc and saw how powerful he an Therese were istg L'Arc is the Anti-Myne

[rot-shield-hero]

Hanahaki disease rarufumi

Haven’t posted in a while but I’m now thinking of a Hanahaki disease for Naofumi when he met L’Arc. How long had they been in Cal Mera? I don’t know but it was love at first sight.

So with Naofumi’s advanced healing, it’s making this all the more painful because it does not actually go away.

Maybe during the fight when they betray him, his healing gives out and the flowers come in tenfold. L’Arc talks about having to kill him and Naofumi just smiles with blood on his lips and a petal on his chin and says “You already did.”

Next, the flowers overgrow his lungs and everyone watches as he collapses and blood flowers burst through his chest.

[agustcult]

︴⋄ 𝐑𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐚 𝐢𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬

ғᴀᴠ ᴏʀ ʀᴇʙʟᴏɢ ɪғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴜsᴇ/sᴀᴠᴇ

[iwatanis-bitch]

Matching lovecore Naofumi x L’arc icons!! Free to use with credit!!

[hritiksinghal]

Watch The Rising of The Shield Hero | Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari All Episodes English Dubbed For Free Online.

[shieldherostuffs]

L’Arc, Therese, and Naofumi are all dating, but Naofumi lives about a 12-hour drive away while Therese and L’Arc live together. One day, because Therese and L’Arc could finally afford a bigger house, invites Naofumi to come live with them. Naofumi obviously says yes, and they all plan for Therese and L’Arc to come get him and for the three to drive back together.

While getting there, L’Arc is mostly the one driving, but keeps getting lost. And when Therese face-times Naofumi to tell him that they might be a couple of hours late, L’Arc tells her something that Naofumi almost can’t hear before Therese shouts.

“WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU GOT US LOST AGAIN?!”

Naofumi just laughs and says he can drive them back because he actually knows how to use Google Maps, and not get lost. 

[rosesinbloom7love]

Shield Hero Shenanigans

Catboys Naofumi & Ren get high off of catnip

Motoyasu: Uh guys? What's wrong with Ren and Naofumi?

Naofumi & Ren: *Laying on the ground purring loudly with dopey grins on their faces*

Itsuki: We gave them catnip.

Motoyasu: Why?

L'arc: To see what would happen.

Motoyasu: Oh, ho'd that go?

L'arc: Well Naofumi tackled me to the ground and quite

literally wrapped himself around me and wouldn't let go for the better part of an hour.

Motoyasu: wow ok, what about Ren?

Itsuki: Well, he spent a good 10 minutes giggling like an idiot at just about everything he saw before trying to climb me and then falling asleep on top of me.

Motoyasu: Why didn't you just push them off of you?

L'arc & Itsuki: ...

[eli-elien]

[cryptid-called-ash]

This is therufumi and you can’t change my mind

[moontheoretist]

“That was awesome! I guess that’s why they call you the Shield Hero, eh Kiddo?” L’Arc grunted next to me while he fought another ganesha. “Awesome? I’m the Shield Hero. If I couldn’t block an attack like that, what good would I be?” I didn’t feel like I had to explain myself to him, but it was true. Since I came to that new world, my main role in battle was to use my high defense rating to block the attacks of enemies. I guess I was sort of an exception. I should mention that I was currently in yet another world, one that lay on the other side of the dimensional rifts that accompanied the waves of destruction. “Don’t let your guard down! Pay attention, will you, Boy?” “Hey Kiddo, you better stop calling me ‘Boy’!” “If you keep calling me ‘Kiddo,’ I’m going to keep calling you ‘Boy’!” Just then I got an even better idea, based on what I knew about his background. “Maybe I should call you ‘Nobunaga’ instead?” “Hey! How did you know that Kizuna used to call me that ?! ” I guess it fit pretty well. I’d have to remember to compliment Kizuna on her nicknaming skills. [...] “L’Arc, you understand Mr. Naofumi so well!” “I know all sorts of people, so right from the get-go I could tell that he wasn’t a bad guy.” “I’m the worst kind of guy!” “Oh yeah, you think you’re really tough, don’t ya?” “Shut up!” What was WITH this guy? By the way, the guy that was pretending to know all about me was L’Arc. That was short for L’Arc Berg. I still didn’t know his last name. He was an experienced adventurer in his late twenties. Generally, he was a pretty charming guy. He knew how to get people on his side. Sometimes he was a little childish, but that was probably just part of his charm. When we first met he was wearing a set of light armor, but when we met up again, in this new world, he was dressed—I don’t know why—like a member of the Shinsengumi. The style suited him, but I wondered which one was his usual look. After all, Glass wore a kimono, and Kizuna wore a haori over a lolita style dress. He probably chose the clothes based on their effects. Maybe the Shinsengumi clothes he had picked up while sneaking around in this world were actually better than the light armor. Why did I care so much about his clothes anyway? Alright, enough of that. Moving on.

Prologue of Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari Light Novel, Volume 9.

“Why” you ask, Naofumi. I will tell you. That’s what’s called attraction and that’s why. You are appreciating the view of Mr. Handsome Nice Guy in Shinsengumi clothes. That’s normal. That’s a pretty beautiful aesthetic. Also I have to stress how much they are made for each other. This first dialogue? Masterpiece. “You call me kiddo, so I will call you boy. Now we are even”. Also it looks like Naofumi isn’t older than L’Arc after all, which was completely stunning to me! I know that every piece of info in the novel is kinda lied down by Naofumi himself as he is the narrator of the story, but claiming as a narrator that L’Arc was in his late twenties vs saying in a dialogue, which was supposed to be a comeback at L’Arc’s “kiddo”, that he is older than him are two different things. Anyway, I didn’t expect L’Arc to be actually older than Naofumi. We don’t really know how many years apart they are, but less than 10 for sure, as late twenties can mean anything from 25/26 to 29.

(He really looks very Nobunagish xD Picture is from Volume 17).